Godspeed, Steve!

All of what I firmly remember about Steve Vidinha is culled from one portion of our Hawaii ALS Annual Christmas program two years ago.  We were in the same randomly assigned group that, like all the others, had to compete singing and acting out a Christmas song, the title of which we had to draw from a hat. Of course, for the life of me, I can't remember the title of the song. As a group, our performance was ... meh.

What stands out in memory is Steve's surprising performance -  he poured out his heart and lungs into the song, contorting himself in his wheelchair to deliver the most power to his voice. He was so animated, he brought to mind somebody singing his guts out because, by golly, he was going to win!  When the results came in, it didn't seem to matter to Steve that we lost.  He good-naturedly laughed.  Ito make his condition worse, he probably developed and busted an hernia in the process.  But he nokeah!  He wrung every ounce of strength in his body, every decibel of sound from his vocal chords, every grain of passion in his heart. That was what mattered.

All my other encounters with Steve - brief meets, phone, and email - reinforced this picture of a man who spares nothing to achieve a goal. He loved to win but, win or lose, what appears paramount to him is the process of giving himself totally. And I bet he expected everyone around him to do the same.

Where he is now, Steve suffers no limits. In fact, Steve no longer suffers. He is where he is always a winner. Always the best. Always among the best.

Godspeed, Steve (Teban). You were one of a kind.

           Steve's Celebration of Life will be August 5, 2017 at St. Ann's in Kaneohe. 10:30 am Visitation/ 12nn Eulogy/ 2pm burial at HI Memorial/ 3-7pm Reception Party @Pohai Nani. Street Parking. Family requests no flowers please but all donations can be made to his Walk to Defeat ALS website or Island's Hospice.